tmr^mm 


.- '-' '^^'^ .  ■:x 


/cf^r 


in 
o 


GIFT  OF     . 


UNIVERSITY     OF     VERMONT    ^ 


FOUNDER^S    DAY 
MAY   \,   J897 


GENERAL    IRA     ALLEN. 


UnivGrsitv  of  VcrmoRt 

rOUNDEP'S  DAY 

V\m   I,   1597 


ADDRESSES 


BY 

PCRLCY  ORNAN  RSY,  1595 

GEORGE  NAYNARD  HOGAN,  1597 

AND 

PROEESSOR  DAVIS  RICH  DEWEY,  Ph.  D.,  1579 


WITH    THE    SONG    AND    ODES    WRITTEN     TOR 
THE  OCCASION 


Printed  by  the  Free  Press  Association 

Burlington,  Vermont 

1897 


\ 


J\- 


^^ 


-I 


c- 


u3^ 


^.1 


-'  i         'J  11       ^*     -,      ■'^        ' 


The  observance  of  Founder's  Day  was  first  proposed  in  June 
1892.  The  first  of  May,  being  the  birthday  of  Ira  Allen,  the 
day  also  on  which  he  set  out  on  his  critical  and  dangerous  but 
successful  embassy  from  the  infant  Republic  of  Vermont  to  the 
British  authorities  in  Canada,  and  at  the  same  time  an  imme- 
morial Spring  Festival  almost  universally  recognized,  seemed 
an  auspicious  date  for  such  a  college  holiday. 

At  the  next  meeting  of  the  Trustees  of  the  University,  in 
June  1893,  the  suggestion  was  adopted,  and  the  first  celebration 
was  held  in  the  Library  in  1894,  the  Rev.  B.  H.  Byington, 
D.  D.,  of  the  class  of  1852,  reading  an  address  on  The  Puritans, 
their  Character,  Customs  and  Influence,  and  the  Glee  Club  sing- 
ing (with  other  pieces)  the  Hymnus  Bucharisticus,  which  for 
several  hundred  years  has  been  sung  at  Oxford  at  five  o'clock  on 
May  Day  morning.  The  audience  filled  the  large  north-  hall  of 
the  building. 

In  1895  the  holiday  was  observed  in  the  Chapel,  addresses 
being  presented  by  Carroll  Warren  Doten,  1895,  Charles  Bthaa 
Allen,  1896,  and  Professor  J.  B.  Goodrich,  1853. 

In  1896  the  undergraduates  were  represented  by  Blwin 
Leroy  Ingalls,  1896,  and  John  Stephen  Buttles,  1897,  and  an  ex- 
cellent address  on  The  Small  College  was  given  by  the  Hon. 
D.  P.  Kingsley,  of  the  class  of  1881.  This  was  printed  in  the 
Cynzc  of  Ma.y  i8th,  and  in  the  Daily  Free  Press  of  May  19th. 
[Copies  may  still  be  had  by  applying  to  the  Secretary  of  the 
Faculty.] 

The  Proceedings  of  Founder's  Day,  1897,  are  herewith  pre- 
sented in  full,  that  the  Alumni  may  understand  what  the  new 
holiday  means  and  what  use  is  made  of  it.  The  new  festival  is 
believed  to  have  passed  the  stage  of  experiment,  the  public 
exercises  having  attracted  large  and  interested  audiences.  The 
themes  discussed  are  meant  to  combine  topics  both  of  local  and 
of  general  interest. 


U.  V.  M. 

FOUNDER^S    DAY 

MAY  I,    1897 


1.  Organ  Voluntary,  Frank  Roland  Jewett,  1899. 

2.  PsALTKR,  Psalm  44,  read  responsively. 

3.  Hymn  745,  God  Bless   our    Native   Ivand,    sung    to   the 

tune  America. 

4.  Prayer  by  the  Chaplain,  Rev.  J.  Isham  Bliss,  D.  D.,  1852. 
.  5.  Address  by  PerlEy  Orman  Ray,  1898. 

6.  Ode,  by  the  Glee  Club. 

7.  Address  by  George  Maynard  Hogan,  1897. 

8.  Song,  by  Glee  Club  and  Students. 

9.  Oration  by  Professor  Davis  Rich  Dewey,  1879, 

of  the  Mass.  Institute  of  Technology. 

10.  Latin  Ode,  Glee  Club  and  Students. 

11.  Benediction  by  the  Chaplain. 


The  likeness  of  Ira  Allen  prefixed  to  this  pamphlet  is  re- 
produced from  an  engraving  which  may  be  seen  in  Volume  II 
of  the  Collections  of  the  Vermont  Historical  Society.  This  is 
a  fairly  satisfactory  representation  of  the  only  likeness  known 
to  exist, — a  miniature  portrait  made  probably  in  Paris  about 
1800  (?),  and  now  in  the  possession  of  a  grand-daughter  of  Gen- 
eral Allen,  residing  in  Lexington,  Mass. 

The  University  owes  it  to  his  memory,  and  to  itself,  to 
place  on  the  walls  of  the  Library  or  Chapel,  without  further 
delay,  a  worthy  portrait  of  its  principal  Founder.  This  was 
proposed  five  years  ago.  Why  should  not  such  a  portrait  be 
arranged  for  at  once  ? 


5 

The  University  of  Vermont  in  the  Civil  War 


Mr.  President,  Frieiids  ajid  Fellow  Students  : 

The  founder  of  our  University,  Ira  Allen,  whose  natal  day 
we  celebrate,  was  more  than  a  statesman,  a  diplomat.  He  was 
a  soldier.  Not  only  at  Ticonderoga  by  the  side  of  his  brother 
Ethan,  but  later  as  Major  General  of  the  Vermont  militia,  he 
displayed  tireless  energy  and  ceaseless  activity.  In  truth, 
'^eternal  vigilance"  was  the  price  Vermont  had  to  pay  for  her 
liberty. 

Upon  the  coat  of  arms  of  our  State  are  inscribed  the  words, 
''Freedom  and  Ufiity.''  While  Ira  Allen  fought  for  Vermont's 
freedom  from  New  York,  New  Hampshire  and  England,  at  a 
later  period  the  University  which  he  founded  gave  many  of  her 
dearest  sons  for  the  preservation  of  our  national  unity.  To  the 
part  the  University  had  in  the  Civil  War  t  invite  your  attention. 

It  is  exceedingly  difficult  to  put  together  with  any  sem- 
blance of  unity  the  facts  connected  with  this  theme.  It  is  hard 
even  to  get  hold  of  the  facts  themselves ;  they  have  to  be  pick- 
ed up,  here  a  little  and  there  a  little,  and  we  must  trust  to  imag- 
ination to  fill  in  the  details. 

The  University,  as  such,  attracted  little  more  than  local  at- 
tention during  the  war.  Students  and  alumni  who  enlisted 
formed  no  distinctive  military  organization,  but  were  scattered 
among  different  companies  and  regiments. 

To  appreciate  best  the  active  part  which  the  College  men 
took  in  the  war,  we  must  try  to  get  behind  the  scenes,  and  enter, 
if  we  can,  into  the  spirit  of  the  times.  I  wish  the  years  could 
be  rolled  back,  just  to  give  us  a  momentary  glimpse,  if  not 
more,  of  the  College  boys  before  the  war.  We  of  this  genera- 
tion are  apt  to  think  of  the  young  men  of  those  dark  days  as  a 
little  above  the  ordinary  students  of  today  ;  as  men  somewhat 
overshadowed  by  Puritanism  ;  as  men  devoid  of  the  keen  sensa- 
tions and  bubbling  life  to  which  we  often  give  such  boisterous 


6 

expression.  We  are  prone  to  imagine  that  they  were  men  formed 
in  a  sterner  mould,  more  mibending  and  dignified,  less  excita- 
ble, men  upon  whom  our  most  cherished  pleasures  exerted  little 
charm  or  none  at  all. 

But  while  it  is  true  that  those  were  dark  days  just  before 
the  war,  we  have  no  reason  to  believe  that  the  College  boys  of 
that  time  were  very  different  from  those  of  to-day.  They  were 
pleased  with  many  of  the  same  pleasures  ;  stirred  by  the  same 
sentiments  and  passions  ;  burning  with  the  same  patriotism  that 
now  lies  dormant  within  us. 

And  so,  if  we  can  put  ourselves  to  ever  so  little  a  degree  in 
their  places  this  morning ;  mingle  with  them  ;  find  out  what 
they  were  thinking  about;  and  feel,  never  so  faintly,  what  they 
felt  ;  if  we  can  do  this,  the  part  our  Alumni  played  in  the  war 
will  come  home  to  us  with  far  more  force. 

It  would  be  impossible  for  a  body  of  young  men  so  open  to 
impression  as  are  college  students,  not  to  be  profoundly  stirred 
by  the  events  just  preceding  the  war.  What  were  those  events? 
The  class  of  '6i  had  entered  as  freshmen  in  1857.  In  this  very 
year  the  United  States  Supreme  Court  handed  down  the  famous 
Dred  Scott  decision.  The  next  year  the  I<incoln  and  Douglass 
debates  attracted  national  attention.  In  '59,  just  a  short  time 
after  College  opened,  came  the  bewildering  and  astounding  news 
of  John  Brown's  capture  of  Harper's  Ferry,  followed  by  that  of 
his  trial  and  execution.  The  summer  and  autumn  of  i860  wit- 
nessed that  memorable  presidential  campaign  with  its  burning 
issues.  We  hear  very  little  of  torch-light  processions,  of  big 
bon-fires  and  of  tin-horn  demonstrations.  A  seriousness  comes 
over  young  and  old,  for  grave  questions  are  to  be  decided. 
The  College  boys  had  two  literary  societies  and  in  these  all  the 
issues  of  the  day  were  hotly  debated.  Were  not  those  the  days 
of  Phillips  and  Sumner  ?  With  their  parents  during  the  summer 
vacation  the  students  must  have  talked  over  the  grave  political 
questions.  They  caught  something  of  the  seriousness  of  the 
times  ;  they  felt  to  some  degree  the  momentousness  of  the 
issues  at  stake. 


It  was  indeed  a  time  full  of  apprehension.  Had  not  the 
South  threatened  to  secede  if  Lincoln  was  elected  ?  He  ought 
to  be  elected  ;  would  he  be  ?  If  he  should  be,  would  the  South 
dare  fulfill  its  threat  ?  If  it  did  secede,  what  then  ?  Civil  war  ? 
]Sjo — don't  speak  of  that.  But  something,  no  one  could  tell  just 
what,  but  a  vague  something — terrible,  appalling — was  felt  to 
be  just  ahead.  The  sky  was  lowering.  The  fate  of  the  nation 
was  trembling  in  the  balance. 

Election  Day  came  at  last.  In  the  evening  as  the  returns 
came  in,  the  town  hall  was  thronged.  After  a  time  it  became 
evident  to  the  almost  breathless  multitude  that  Lincoln  was 
elected.  Stirring  speeches  followed  and  the  College  Glee  club 
thrilled  the  audience  with  their  patriotic  songs. 

On  the  twentieth  of  the  next  December,  South  Carolina 
seceded,  quickly  followed  by  Georgia  and  the  other  Southern 
States.  The  South  was  making  good  its  threat.  All  eyes,  all 
hearts  turned  instinctively  toward  Mr.  Lincoln  and  anxiously 
awaited  his  inauguration.  The  local  paper  of  February  9,  186 1, 
came  out  with  an  editorial  headed  in  large  type  :  "A  Great 
Humiliation  or  a  Great  War.  Which  is  Before  Us ;  or  is 
Neither?"  And  that  is  the  uncertainty  which  was  perplexing 
almost  every  northern  mind. 

Mr.  Lincoln  was  inaugurated  the  next  month.  Events  now 
crowd  one  another  in  rapid  succession  up  to  April  12th.  On 
that  morning  the  news  was  flashed  over  the  whole  country  that 
Fort  Sumter  in  Charleston  Harbor  had  been  fired  upon  ;  and  the 
next  day,  that  it  had  surrendered  to  the  Secessionists.  The 
efifect  of  that  news  can  better  be  imagined  than  described.  Says 
Dr.  Holland  :  ''Such  a  universal  burst  of  patriotic  indigna- 
tion as  ran  over  the  North  has  never  been  witnessed.  It  swept 
away  all  party  lines  as  if  it  had  been  flame  and  they  had  been 
flax." 

Rebellion  had  culminated  in  open  war.  "  War  has  begun, ' ' 
was  repeated  on  every  side.  On  April  15th  came  the  call  for 
troops:  "the  alarm  bell  of  battle  clanged  its  call  to  arms." 
The  students  at  this  time  merged  with  the  town  in  several  mass 


8 

meetings.  There  was  little  demonstration;  but  a  profound 
solemnity,  a  deep  unutterable  indignation.  ''The  red  wrath  of 
war  was  lighting  its  camp-fires." 

See  the  little  groups  of  students  here  and  there  about  the 
College.  Chum  seeks  chum.  The  boys  seem  to  grow  old. 
Something  is  on  their  minds.  What  earnest  self-questionings  in 
the  quiet  of  one's  own  room  !  What  letters  those  students  must 
have  written  home  ;  to  read  one  would  tell  us  what  all  were 
feeling  or  passing  through.  In  those  young  hearts  are  fought 
battles  of  which  the  story  will  never  be  written.  It  is  the  sacri- 
fice of  long  cherished  ambitions  and  ideals,  to  suffer,  to  endure 
the  privations,  hardships,  distress  of  war;  and,  what  is  hardest 
for  a  young  man  to  contemplate,  to  die  if  need  be,  far  away 
from  home  and  loved  ones,  alone,  unknown,  unfamed.  Yet, 
however  obscurely,  would  not  that  be  dying  in  the  path  of  duty? 
But  that  was  glorious,  that  was  true  renown,  to  die  in  war, 
defending  the  imperilled  liberties  of  one's  fatherland — to  die  on 
the  altar  of  one's  country — yes,  they  could  do  that,  and  they 
would,  if  duty  called. 

So  nigh  is  grandeur  to  our  dust. 

So  near  is  God  to  man. 
When  duty  whispers  low,  Thoti  must, 

The  youth  replies,  I  can. 

Perhaps  it  was  just  then,  in  those  days  that  were  trying 
men's  souls,  that  the  example  of  our  Founder  and  his  illustrious 
brother  made  the  sacrifice  easier  for  some. 

Just  ten  days  after  the  firing  on  Sumter  an  interesting  event 
occurred.     I  quote  from  the  Free  Press  of  April  23rd  : 

"PATRIOTISM    OF   THE   UNIVERSITY." 

"  An  interesting  scene  transpired  in  the  University  Chapel 
yesterday  afternoon.  After  the  customary  rhetorical  exercises 
the  students  were  requested  to  remain  and  were  addressed  by 
President  Pease.  He  told  them,  as  we  are  informed,  that  there 
was  probably  no  present  need  for  them  to  march  to  the  support 
of  the  Government;  but  in  expectation  of  a  time  when  they 
would  be  needed,  he  advised   them  to  form  a  military  company 


among  themselves,  and  familiarize  themselves  with  the  drill  and 
use  of  arms.  These  sentiments,  with  an  eloquent  allusion  to  the 
flag  of  the  Union  which  will  float  in  a  day  or  two  from  a  flag 
staff  which  is  to  be  raised  from  the,  dome  of  the  college  build- 
ing, were  received  with  tremendous  applause  by  the  students 
who  are  almost  to  a  man  burning  to  volunteer. ' '  The  flag-rais- 
ing mentioned  occurred  the  next  day.  A  University  company 
was  soon  formed  with  George  A.  French,  '6i,  Captain  ;  Charles 
Work,  '6i,  First  Lieutenant;  and  J.  M.  Poland,  '62,  Second 
Lieutenant.     Drills  took  place  regularly. 

On  April  28th  a  new  military  company  was  formed  in  the 
town,  known  as  the  "  Vermont  Guard,"  afterwards  as  Company 
G  of  the  Second  Vermont.  John  T.  Drew,  then  a  junior  in  col- 
lege, was  elected  captain.  His  company  is  described  as  an 
unusually  fine  one  ;  nineteen  of  the  men  were  over  six  feet  tall. 

Thirty-six  years  ago  to-morrow  the  first  company  left  Bur- 
lington for  Rutland,  whence  the  First  Vermont  Regiment  started 
for  Washington.  The  departure  of  course  called  forth  the  whole 
town.  There  were  several  speeches,  and  we  read  that  the  Hon. 
Daniel  Roberts  and  a  chorus  of  College  and  town  men  sang 
"  The  Star  Spangled  Banner"  with  fine  effect. 

To  what  extent  was  the  University  represented  in  the  War  ? 
What  proportion  of  the  students  volunteered  ?  The  catalogue  of 
1862-63  gives  us  some  interesting  facts  in  answer  to  the  latter 
question.  The  then  Senior  class  in  the  Academic  Department, 
the  class  of  '63,  had  seventeen  members,  six  of  whom  enrolled 
as  volunteers.  The  Junior  Class,  or  class  of  '64,  had  eleven 
volunteers  out  of  twenty-two  members  ;  the  class  of  '65,  with 
sixteen  members,  sent  eight  volunteers  :  these  two  classes  gave 
half  their  numbers.  The  class  of  '66,  with  ten  members,  fur- 
nished three  volunteers.  Total  Academic  students,  sixty-five  ; 
volunteers,  twenty-eight,  or  forty-three  per  cent  of  the  total 
enrolment. 

In  answer  to  the  former  question.  To  what  extent  was  the 
University  represented  in  the  War  ?  it  is  almost  impossible  to  get 
complete  data.  However,  we  can  point  out  one  hundred  and 
forty  Academic  and  thirty-four   Medical  graduates  and  students 


10 

in  the  service.  Of  these,  nine  were  in  the  Confederate  army; 
one  of  these  became  a  Captain,  another  a  Major,  and  a  third, 
Major-General.  As  these  nine  were  mostly  from  Southern 
homes,  we  must  in  all  fairness  ascribe  to  them  the  same  con- 
scientiousness in  fighting  for  their  states  that  impelled  our  men 
to  stand  for  the  Union. 

What  sort  of  soldiers  did  our  alumni  make  ?  Excellent  ; 
first-class.  lyisten :  We  can  point  out  two  Brevet  Brigadier 
Generals,  E.  W.  Smith,  '52,  and  J.  R.  Levvis,  60  .  besides  nine 
Colonels  and  I^ieutenant-Colonels ;  twenty-two  Captains ;  ten 
First-Lieutenants,  and  a  total  of  those  rising  above  the  rank  of 
private  of  eighty-six,  or  eighty -five  per  cent  of  the  Academic 
volunteers.  In  addition  there  were  six  Chaplains  and  forty-two 
Surgeons.  Six  were  taken  prisoners  and  fifteen  were  killed  or 
died  in  service. 

Could  the  story  of  their  gallant  deeds  be  written  in  detail 
it  would  be  one  of  marvelous  interest  and  inspiration.  In  years 
teeming  with  acts  of  heroism  no  inconsiderable  number  of  such 
acts  are  linked  with  the  names  of  our  alumni.  Against 
no  one  of  them  has  the  finger  of  reproach  been  raised,  or  the 
charge  that  he  quailed  in  the  hour  of  trial.  One  and  all  deserve 
our  grateful,  loving,  enduring  remembrance,  for  they  *'  actually 
stood  in  death's  highway,  that   the  Republic  might  be  saved." 

Some  fifteen  years  ago  the  alumni  placed  in  our  Chapel 
that  marble  tablet  bearing  this  inscription  :  ''In  grateful  and  per- 
petual memory  of  the  Alumni  of  this  University,  who  in  defense 
of  the  native  land  of  us  all,  faced  death  in  Civil  war." 

As  four  weeks  hence  Memorial  Day  again  comes  round, 
ought  it  not  to  come  to  us  of  the  University  with  more  signifi- 
cance than  ever  before  ?  Shall  we  not  see  in  it  something  more 
than  a  holiday,  a  day  in  which  we  have  a  personal  interest,  a  day 
in  which  our  thoughts  shall  turn  back  as  never  before  to  those 
of  our  elder  brothers,  who,  "rather  than  survive  their  im- 
periled liberties,"  ''sought  death  in  Civil  War."  And  as  year 
by  year  we  see  going  about  from  grave  to  grave  of  their  com- 
rades, the  old  soldiers  who  yet  linger  with  us,  shall  not  our 
thoughts  revert  to  our  Founder,  who  fought  for  the  freedom  of 
the  State,  and  to  our  Alumni    who   battled  for  the  Unity  of  the 

Nation  ? 

PERI.KY  Orman  Ray,  1898 


11 

ENGLISH   ODE 

Tune- -Die  Wachtam  Rhein. 

1.  To  thee,  far-sighted  patriot, 
Neglected  oft,  but  not  forgot. 
Our  thoughts  revert  again  to-day 
From  out  their  tame  accustomed  way. 

A  leader  in  that  dauntless  band, 
Thou  didst  not  shrink,  or  fear  to  stand 
Firm  for  thy  native  land 

In  conflict's  night, 
Trusting  God's  mighty  hand 
To  guard  the  right. 

2.  The  shackles  of  unrighteous  rule 

Were  snapped,  and  soon  in  church  and  school 
Fair  lyearning  claimed  the  auspicious  hour, 
The  guardian  of  our  peace  and  power. 
So  Freedom's  spirit  perished  not 
But  flourished  by  thy  fruitful  thought; 
For  through  thy  toil  was  wrought 

Our  College  name. 
And  to  this  altar  brought 
The  kindling  flame. 

3.  Thj'  spirit  knew  misfortune's  ways, 
But  still  through  all  those  anxious  days 
Hope  ne'er  withheld  her  cheering  beam. 
But  shed  her  splendor  on  thy  dream. 

Banished,  despoiled  of  thine  estate, 
Victim  of  selfish  greed  and  hate, 
Naught  could 'st  thou  be  but  great. 

Whole-souled  and  true, 
Still  seeking  for  thy  State 
Some  good  to  do. 

4.  So  now  to-day  assembled  here. 

Thy  work  we  praise,  thy  name  revere, 
And  hand  it  on  this  natal  morn. 
To  generations  yet  unborn  : 

And  high  on  Honor's  fadeless  page 
Inscribe  it,  that  each  future  age 

May  read  how  thou  did'st  wage 

Stern  strife  with  want. 
To  win  this  heritage 
Of  fair  Vermont. 

Leon  Ernest  Daniei^s,  1899 


12 


Some  Advantages  that  May  be  Derived  from  a  Coi,lege 

Education 

Mr.  Chairman,  Ladies  and  Gentlemeji  : 

I  propose  to  speak  of  some  of  the  advantages  that  may  be 
derived  from  a  College  education.  As  I  am  nearing  the  com- 
pletion of  my  course  here,  I  feel  myself  better  qualified  to  dis- 
cuss this  topic  than  any  other  equally  appropriate.  What  I 
may  say  will  be  mainly  gleanings  from  the  field  of  my  own 
personal  experience  in  the  hope  to  appeal  more  strongly  to  those 
of  you  who  are  closely  connected  with  this  institution.  And  in 
speaking  of  this  theme  I  deem  myself  fortunate  that  I  speak  to 
friends  at  once  appreciative  and  indulgent. 

It  seems  to  me  one  might  make  a  threefold  division  of  the 
advantages  of  a  College  education  :  First,  the  advantages  which 
are  Intellectual  ;  second,  those  which  are  Practical ;  third,  those 
which  are  Social.  Let  us  consider  each  of  these  in  turn — and 
first :  the  Intellectual  benefit  that  may  be  acquired. 

I  am  sure  most  of  you  will  assent  when  I  say  that  the  aim 
of  a  College  course  has  been  and  is  to  make  thinkers  rather  than 
scholars.  To  bring  out  in  each  student  his  own  latent  mental 
qualities,  to  train  him  to  use  books  for  himself,  to  teach  him 
how  to  gather  information,  how  to  use  it,  and  how  to  think. 
Individual  independence  of  the  mind,  then,  is  one  of  the  incal- 
culable advantages  to  be  derived  from  a  College  course. 

This  is  illustrated  by  the  experience  of  a  majority,  at  least, 
of  those  who  enter  for  the  first  time  upon  a  collegiate  course  of 
training.  When  the  average  youth  enters  College  he  does  not 
know  how  to  study,  how  to  think,  in  the  true  sense.  In  the 
preparatory  school  his  studying  was  done  under  the  watchful  eye 
of  his  teacher,  and  with  certain  iron-clad  rules  staring  him  in  the 
face  having  their  attendant  rewards  and  penalties;  and  these  too 
often  constituted  the  impelling  motive  for  his  mental  effort. 
Once  in  College,  however,  the  student  finds  himself  free  from 
the  necessary,  but  none  the  less  hampering  shackles  of  the  pre- 


13 

paratory  school.  He  is  allowed  the  privilege,  and  assumes  the 
responsibility,  of  selecting,  to  a  large  extent,  his  own  subjects, 
and  for  the  first  time  in  his  life  is  placed  where,  if  he  chooses 
to  do  his  work  at  all,  he  studies  for  study's  sake  and  for  the  ben- 
efit he  may  personally  derive  from  it.  Thus  it  is,  that  from  the 
very  outset  a  College  student  is  thrown  more  or  less  upon  his 
own  resources,  is  forced  to  become  independent,  to  think  for 
himself,  and  so  learns  to  study  in  the  true  sense  of  the  word. 
This  independent  studying,  this  independent  thinking,  pursued 
for  the  sake  of  the  personal  benefit  that  may  accure  therefrom, 
and  pursued  for  that  only,  devoid  of  all  baneful,  narrow  and 
sordid  ambition  for  marks  or  special  honors,  is  to  me  the  great- 
est possible  intellectual  advantage  afforded  by  a  College  edu- 
cation. 

The  experience  of  those  who  have  gone  before  us  is  proof 
positive  that  it  is  not  necessarily  the  man  who  ranks  high  as  a 
scholar  who  accomplishes  the  greatest  good  for  society,  but 
rather,  the  man  who  can  think  for  himself,  who  can  originate, 
who  can  solve  problems  in  his  own  brain.  Therefore,  the 
college  which  sends  out,  instead  of  mere  scholars,  the  most 
men  who  have  been  taught  to  think,  accomplishes  the  greatest 
good  and  most  nearly  fulfils  its  complete  mission. 

From  my  own  experience,  I  can  say  without  an  instant's 
hesitation  that  a  large  part  of  the  book-knowledge  I  have 
learned  here  has  already  been  forgotten,  and  I  expect  to  forget 
still  more  of  it  as  time  goes  on.  I  apprehend  there  is  not  a 
single  college  graduate  who  could  not  truthfully  make  a  similar 
statement,  unless  his  special  line  of  work  has  been  such  as  to 
keep  alive  the  various  branches  of  study  pursued.  But  the  fact 
that  this  is  the  invariable  result  does  not  detract  one  single 
iota  from  the  intellectual  advantage  gained  by  pursuing  these 
same  studies;  for  in  forgetting  the  mere  substance  of  a  book, 
the  student,  we  trust,  does  not  forget  that  which  is  of  infinitely 
greater  importance,  viz  :  the  principles  by  which  he  mastered 
its  contents  and  the  discipline  experienced  by  the  steady  appli- 
cation and  labor  he  found  necessary  to  put  upon  it. 


u 

In  other  words,  the  student  who  at  the  close  of  his  course 
has  learned  to  study  and  think  for  himself  is  the  one  who  leaves 
college  with  the  best  possible  intellectual  equipment,  for, 
though  he  have  but  little  technical  knowledge  at  his  command, 
be  has  acquired  that  power  by  which  in  later  life  he  can  work 
out  for  himself  the  endless  number  of  problems  that  will  be 
presented  to  him. 

Akin  to  this  mental  independence — unquestionably  the  most 
important  intellectual  advantage  college  affords — two  other 
qualities  of  mind  occur  to  me  as  being  of  great  value,  both  of 
which  may  be  fostered  and  developed  in  college.  One  is  the 
attribute  of  mind  that  leads  a  student  into  healthy  competition 
with  his  classmates;  the  other,  the  power  to  estimate  his  own 
abilities. 

There  is  this  much  to  be  said  of  the  first,  that  every  student 
is  called  upon  to  enter,  more  or  less,  into  contest  with  his 
fellows  in  every  direction,  on  the  athletic  field  as  well  as  in  the 
class  room.  As  a  consequence  of  this,  it  is  reasonable  to  assume 
that  when  he  goes  into  active  life  outside  the  college  and  finds 
himself  matched  with  new  men  and  strange  circumstances,  the 
thought  that  he  has  already  experienced  a  kind  of  competition 
with  the  best  minds  in  his  college,  and  done  his  part,  will  prove 
to  be  to  him  a  most  valuable  source  of  courage  and  strength. 
His  advantage  rests  in  the  fact  that  he  has  found  profit,  not  so 
much  in  striving  to  surpass  a  less  fortunate  class- man,  as  in  striv- 
ing to  surpass  his  own  record.  By  this  competition  his  intel- 
lectual faculties  will  have  been  made  keener,  and  will  have  re- 
ceived an  impetus  which  it  is  impossible  to  overestimate*.  He 
will  have  had,  to  some  extent  at  least,  opportunity  to  appre- 
ciate what  are  his  weak  points,  and  what  his  strong  ones,  and 
this  leads  me  to  the  last  intellectual  advantage  of  which  I  have 
time  to  speak. 

College  does  give  a  man  some  idea  of  his  own  abilities, 
some  idea  of  what  he  is  good  for.  Is  not  this  an  intellectual 
advantage  ?  It  is  most  often  while  in  college  that  one  makes 
his  choice  of  life-work.     To  have  had  a   mental   training   that 


15 

will  help  to  guide  him  aright  in  this  direction  means  not  only 
bread  and  butter,  but  a  much  higher  degree  of  success. 

Thus  it  is  that  in  college  a  student  is  given  practice  in 
studying  in  the  true  sense,  in  thinking  independently,  in  accom- 
plishing this  amid  a  crowd  of  conflicting  engagements,  and 
finally  he  is  endowed  with  the  power  to  appreciate  in  part  his 
own  abilities.  These  it  must  certainly  be  said,  are  the  lasting 
intellectual  advantages  gained  by  a  collegiate  course  of  train- 
ing. 

When  a  man  leaves  college,  then,  he  should  not  be,  and 
cannot  be  a  scholar,  but  rather,  one  in  whom  scholarly  aspira- 
tions have  been  quickened,  and  scholarly  impulses  aroused. 

Apart  from  the  intellectual  side  of  college  life,  however, 
there  is  also  a  practical  side  which  is  of  fully  equal  advantage 
to  the  student. 

It  is  a  great  thing  to  be  able  to  loaf  well — it  softens  the 
manners  and  does  not  allow  them  to  be  fierce — and  there  is  no 
better  place  on  the  face  of  the  earth  where  one  may  learn  loaf- 
ing to  a  higher  degree  of  perfection  than  in  college,  and  I  am 
stili  speaking  from  experience.  Laziness  is  a  sin  which  besets 
the  college  as  easily  as  it  does  the  individual,  but  I  venture  to 
say  that  hundreds  of  men  have  received  their  first  impulse  for 
downright,  hard,  persistent  and  absorbing  work  in  this  very  col- 
lege, and  have  thus  laid  the  foundations  for  the  best  things  that 
life  can  ofi^er.  Since  the  test  applied  in  the^life  of  the  world  is 
not  What  does  a  fellow  know  ?  but  What  can  he  do  ?  Could  the 
practical  character  of  the  training  which  a  college  gives  be  evi- 
denced in  a  more  conspicious  way  than  by  the  fact  that  it  may 
be  made  a  place  of  training  for  hard  work? 

Again.  Plenty  of  experience  in  practical  affairs  of  the 
world  is  placed  at  the  disposal  of  the  college  student  who  is 
willing  to  assume  duties  other  than  those  which  are  merely  in- 
tellectual. It  happens  not  infrequently  that  a  shy,  diffident,  re- 
served student,  who  as  a  schoolboy  had  been  absorbed  in  his 
books  and  had  few  companions,  when  he  has  responsibility  put 
upon  him,  for  the  first  time,  loses  his  shyness,  gains  confidence 


V  .  16 

in  himself,  and  becomes  the  efficient  chairman  of  some  com- 
mittee, editor-in  chief  of  his  college  paper,  the  president  or 
leader  of  some  active  college  organization.  The  diffident  boy 
has  developed  into  the  capable  college  man  with  the  ability 
"  to  bring  things  to  pass."  He  has  become  a  much  more  valu- 
able member  of  society  for  his  experience  obtained  in  this 
phase  of  his  college  work. 

If  figures  do  not  lie,  it  can  be  shown  by  statistics  that  the 
college-bred  man  has  a  tremendous  practical  advantage  in  the 
race  for  business  position,  even  when  his  special  preparation 
may  seem  to  have  little  direct  reference  to  his  appointment,  or 
business  position. 

So  it  is  that  college  not  only  aims  to  make,  but  may  suc- 
ceed in  making,  its  students  capable  and  self-reliant,  in  giving 
them  the  power  of  accomplishing  whatever  they  undertake,  in 
making  them  constructive  in  their  work  rather  than  merely 
imitative. 

But  if,  in  enumerating  some  of  the  advantages  afforded  by 
a  course  of  training  in  college — such  as  the  intellectual  and  the 
practical — one  fails  to  include  those  advantages  which  ma>i  be 
called  social,  he  falls  far  short  of  doing  justice  to  an  institution 
worthy  to  bear  the  name  of  college.  He  neglects  to  note  the 
most  lasting  of  all  the  benefits  derived  from  a  college  education. 
In  speaking  of  the  social  side  of  college  life,  I  do  not  wish  to 
be  understood  as  referring,  necessarily,  to  receptions,  balls,  and 
theatre  parties,  but  rather  to  what  is  even  more  important  than 
any  of  these — the  influence,  the  spirit,  the  sentiment  exerted 
by  the  daily  intercourse  of  student  with  student. 

The  remark  is  often  made,  and  with  telling  force,  that  the 
students  are  educated  as  much  by  each  other  as  by  the  professors. 
Whether  this  ought  to  be  the  case,  may  be  open  to  question, 
yet  it  must  certainly  be  said  that  every  single  college  man  will 
secretly  acknowledge  if  not  openly,  that  the  power  of  personal- 
ity is  by  far  superior  in  importance  to  the  power  of  instruction. 
In  other  words,  that  one's  personality  far  exceeds  in  influence 
his  mental  attainments.     It  is  not  too  much  to  say  that  a  pleas- 


17 

ing  personality,  witli  the  necessary  attributes  of  mind  that  al- 
ways accompany  it,  is  much  more  to  be  envied,  is  much  more 
to  be  desired  and  cultivated,  than  the  most  profound  intellect 
that  lacks  such  personality. 

If  one  thing  more  than  any  other  has  been  indelibly  im- 
pressed upon  my  mind  during  my  course,  it  is  a  conviction  of  the 
baneful  effects  that  come  from  magnifying  the  intellectual  at 
the  expense  of  the  practical  and  social  ends  of  education.  For 
it  is  the  social  life  that  brings  out  the  student's  personality. 
Without  a  strong,  pleasing  personality  he  is  utterly  unable  to 
cope  with  the  great  world  outside.  He  may  become  the  veriest 
book- worm,  and  still  know  absolutely  nothing  of  the  affairs  of 
life.  "While  he  may  acquire  information,  he  will  never  be  a 
scholar,  and  can  never  be  a  cultured  gentleman. 

Now  how  does  college  help  to  give  one  this  personality  ? 
In  a  sense,  college  is  a  world  by  itself — it  is  the  greater  world 
in  embryo.  Upon  entering  it  one  finds  himself  thrown  in  with 
all  sorts  and  conditions  of  men — rich  men,  poor  men,  selfish 
men,  unselfish  men  ;  men  who  have  high  ideas  of  life  and  work, 
men  who,  unfortunately,  have  not  these  ideas.  For  four  years 
he  is  to  live  with,  be  identified  with,  associated  with,  all  these 
conflicting  temperaments  and  various  faculties.  He  is,  there- 
fore,compelled  to  learn  how  to  make  friends,  how  to  keep  friends. 
He  is  to  learn  how  to  treat  his  enemies,  if  he  have  any  ;  how 
to  get  on  with  men,  and  still  preserve  his  own  individuality. 
He  is  to  learn,  as  never  before,  the  necessity  for,  and  the  power 
of,  tact.  And  finally,  he  is  to  learn  that  those  of  the  older 
students  who  rise  to  places  of  trust  and  confidence,  who  exert 
the  best  and  strongest  influence;  that  those  among  the  pro- 
fessors who  are  the  most  popular,  respected  and  beloved,  are 
always  and  everywhere  those  who  have,  perhaps,  no  extraordi- 
nary intellectual  power,  but  who  have  a  wholesome,  hale  and 
hearty,  2Ln6i pleasing  personality. 

It  is  because  the  social  intercourse  of  student  with  student 
may  develop  this  power  of  personality,  that  I  count  the  result 
of  the  social  side  of  college  life  the  very  best  of  its  contribu- 


V-  18 

tions  to  a  liberal  education.  It  is  only  by  means  of  one's  own 
personality  that  he  can  ever  hope  to  influence  or  instruct  others 
with  any  lasting  benefit.  It  is  never  to  be  forgotten  that  it  is 
humanity  that  educates  humanity,  personality  that  disciplines 
personality. 

But  a  pleasing  personality  is  by  no  means  all  that  the  social 
life  of  college  gives  to  the  student  who  mingles  with  his  fel- 
lows. It  strengthens  his  sympathies,  it  widens  his  outlook  upon 
the  facts  of  life.  In  short,  it  is  the  social  life  which  accom- 
plishes what  may  be  said  to  be  embodied  in  the  general  broad- 
ening, deepening  and  enriching  of  character, — all  that  which 
may  be  so  much  more  easily  felt  than  expressed. 

In  the  college  world,  as  in  the  greater  world  outside,  life 
may  be  to  the  student  what  he  chooses  to  make  it.  It  may  be 
good  or  bad,  pure  or  vile,  worth  while  or  not  worth  while. 
Obviously  the  moral  strain  is  great.  If,  however,  a  man  dis- 
ciplines himself  to  make  a  clean  record  in  the  social  life  of  his 
college,  is  not  this  a  fair  guarantee  that  he  will  do  the  same  in 
his  later  life  ? 

The  influence  of  students  is  constantly  recognized  in  respect 
to  its  less  favorable  aspects,  but  I  think  it  is  not  so  often  recog- 
nized in  respect  to  its  higher  and  nobler  relations.  Of  this  a 
word  seems  necessary. 

There  is  a  certain  institution  in  the  social  life  of  every  col- 
lege whose  whole  object  and  aim,  whose  every  principle,  is 
such  as  to  call  forth  in  each  member  his  noblest  purposes  and 
highest  aspirations.  It  is  that  part  of  college  life  about  which 
cluster  the  tenderest  memories,  the  most  sacred  associations. 
For  it,  one's  dreams  of  college  reputation,  his  selfish  pride,  his 
deep-uttered  vows  to  win  a  name  for  himself  have  all  been 
sobered  into  affection  ;  have  all  blended  into  that  glow  of  feel- 
ing which  finds  its  center,  and  hope,  and  joy,  in  the  Fraternity. 
For  it  is  here,  in  this  home  life  of  the  college,  that  one  learns 
to  surrender  himself  to  the  good  of  those  to  whom  he  has  pledged 
what  is  nearest  and  dearest  to  him.  It  is  here  that  one  learns 
to  make  the  interests  and  honor  of  his  friends,  the  interests  and 


19 

honor  of  himself.  Here,  as  nowhere  else,  the  power  of 
personal  influence  is  manifest.  And,  as  it  is  in  such  a  social 
institution  as  his  own  fraternity  that  for  each  student  may  first 
be  born  that  larger,  broader,  fraternal  feeling  which  marks  col- 
lege life  as  most  beautiful  the  world  over,  so  it  is  that  the 
greater  fraternity  of  the  one  college  body  may  likewise  come  to 
be  the  source  of  those  elevating,  ennobling  influences  of  true 
college  loyalty,  college  spirit,  college  friendship — qualities 
which  as  long  as  life  endures  will  never  cease  to  be  an  inspira- 
tion and  a  lasting  help  to  every  college  graduate. 

In  conclusion,  then, we  see  some  of  the  advantages  which  the 
college  may  give  a  student  if  he  will  but  let  it.  It  may  develop 
in  him  an  independence  of  thought,  of  study,  of  action;  it  may 
give  him  a  better,  truer  estimate  of  his  own  abilities.  He  may 
gain  the  practical  advantages  that  come  from  steady  application 
to  hard  work  ;  he  may  reap 'the  practical  benefits  from  an  ex- 
perience in  getting  on  with  men.  And  finally,  last  and  best  of 
all,  he  may  have  developed  in  him  not  only  a  cultured,  pleas- 
ing personality  that  will  commend  itself  to  every  stranger,  but 
he  may  have  developed  also  those  refining  sentiments  of  honor 
and  manliness  which  come  only  from  the  uplifting  influences  of 
high-minded  companionship  ;  he  may  appreciate  as  never  be- 
fore ''the  loyalty,  valor  and  truth  Of  the  friendships  that  hallow 
the  season  of  youth." 

Thus  it  is  that  the  college  pours  oil,  as  it  were,  into  the 
lamp  of  character,  and  makes  its  light  more  radiant,  and  more 
lasting. 

George  Maynard  Hog  an,  1897 


^  20 

SONG 

Air— Nellie  Gray. 

1.  When  the  golden  blush  of  morning  spreads  its  radiance  o'er 

the  sky, 
And  each  dew-drop  seems  a  bright  and  sparkling  gem, 
And  the  gently  breathing  ijephyr  stirs  the  silver  boughs  on 

high, 
Thei]^we'll  sing  to  our  dear  old  U.  V.  M. 

CHORUS. 

Then  we'll  sing  the  glad  refrain, 

Let  it  echo  once  again. 

And  we'll  sing  it  with  a  will  forevermore  ; 

For  we're  singing  of  the  praises  of  our  dear  old  U.  V.  M. 

May  they  echo  from  the  mountains  to  the  shore  ! 

2.  When  athwart  the  eastern  mountains   spreads  the  sunset's 

golden  glow. 
And  the  sun  is  slowly  sinking  to  his  rest. 
And  across  the  ancient  campus  creep  the  evening  shadows 

low, 
And  the  silver  lake  is  glistening  in  the  west  ; 

CHORUS. 

3.  Like  a  gleam  of  happy  sunshine  in  this  world  of  care  and  woe. 

Like  a  star  that  flashes  brightly  o'er  its  ways, 
Far  across  the  fields  of  memory  from  the  years  of  long  ago 
Shines  the  lustre  of  our  happy  college  days. 

CHORUS. 

4.  When  at  last  the  voyage  ceases  and  we  stand  upon  the  shore, 

And  the  shadows  gather  thick  upon  the  main. 
Then   we'll   think  with  fond  remembrance  of  our  college 
days  once  more, 
And  we'll  long  for  the  dear  old  U.  V.  M. 

CHORUS. 

Frank  Roi^and  Jkwktt,   1899 

[It  is  often  asked  what  the  mysterious  letters  "U.  V.  M." 
stand  for.  The  explanation  is  this  :  In  the  early  days  of  the 
University  the  name  of  the  institution  was  sometimes  latinized 
as  Universitas  Viridhcm  Montmm.'\ 


21 

The  InterdepKndency  of  Modern  Communities 
Fellow  Students  and  Friends  : 

The  last  time  that  I  delivered  an  oration  was  nearly  eighteen 
years  ago  when  I  stood  upon  the  platform  of  the  Howard  Opera 
House  upon  the  occasion  of  receiving  the  degree  of  Bachelor  of 
Arts.  Since  that  day  I  have  not  been  called  upon  for  an  ora- 
tion. All  that  I  can  hope  to  do  now  is  to  make  a  brief  address 
which  I  trust  may  be  in  keeping  with  this  most  fitting  celebra- 
tion. I  shall  not,  however,  dwell  long  upon  the  past,  or  upon  the 
history  of  our  State  and  the  University.  A  great  man  or  a  great 
occasion  can  serve  no  better  purpose  than  to  furnish  us  with  a 
text  for  the  future. 

It  has  been  frequently  remarked  that  there  is  more  State 
pride  among  the  sons  of  Vermont  than  is  to  be  found  among  the 
offspring  of  any  other  commonwealth.  So,  too,  we  alumni  have 
a  peculiar  pride  in  our  loved  University,  and  if  we  chance  to  be 
at  once  the  sons  of  Vermont  and  alumni  of  the  University,  this 
double  pride  becomes  a  rich  heritage,  a  precious  memory.  We 
love  our  college  not  only  for  her  own  sake,  but  also  because  she 
is  set  upon  a  hill  in  a  commonwealth  crowded  with  historic 
memories  of  a  unique  civil  life. 

This  combination  of  sentiment, — a  love  for  a  college,  and  a 
love  for  a  commonwealth,  is  more  distinct, so  far  as  I  am  aware, 
among  the  alumni  of  Vermont  than  elsewhere.  We  love  to 
think  that  our  State  had  its  origin  in  pioneers  who  preferred 
hardships  of  unconquered  nature  to  the  more  comfortable  homes 
of  commerce  on  the  seaboard,  or  to  a  life  in  the  well  settled 
agricultural  towns  in  the  interior  of  Connecticut  and  Massachu- 
setts ;  who  were  the  offspring  of  separatism  in  the  church  ;  who 
dared  to  maintain  independence  not  only  of  the  mother  country, 
but  also  of  the  sister  colonies  to  the  East  and  the  West.  We 
love  our  State  none  the  less  because  there  is  a  tradition  of  tur- 
bulence and  outlawry  associated  with  our  youth.  Our  incon- 
sistent characters,  even  that  of  the  insolent  Matthew  Lyon 
imprisoned  under  the  alien  and  sedition  laws,  have  a  sympathet- 


22 

ic  interest  for  us  which  we  cannot  explain,  save  that  in  some 
way  they  appear  to  be  an  expression  of  our  independent  feel- 
ing. To  us  there  appears  no  incongruity  in  the  almost  unique 
action  of  [our  State  in  making  the  Masonic  question  a  funda- 
mental issue  in  a  political  election.  So,  too,  we  prize  the  simple 
history  and  character  of  our  college  ;  we  love  to  think  that  we 
were  once  the  seat  of  an  interpretation  of  philosophic  thought, 
unappreciated  if  not  unknown  in  other  intellectual  centers  of 
this  country. 

If  I  had  the  opportunity,  I  should  enjoy  dwelling  at  length 
upon  some  of  these  conditions  and  characteristics  which  have 
given  this  distinctive  quality  to  our  State,  but  in  thus  referring 
to  these  characteristics  of  our  commonwealth  I  do  not  intend  to 
enter  upon  a  eulogy  of  the  accomplishments  of  this  state,  or 
of  the  quiet,  silent,  but  forceful  work  of  our  University.  My 
thought  is  in  another  direction,  and  I  trust  that  this  will  not  ap- 
pear to  be  an  inappropriate  occasion  to  dwell  for  a  few  moments 
upon  certain  forces  at  work  at  the  present  time  throughout  the 
world,  which  are  tending  to  make  much  of  this  history  of  our 
loved  State,  and  to  a  certain  extent,  the  annals  of  our  college, 
even  more  of  a  legend  than  it  is  to-day.  This  past  indeed  should 
be  more  than  a  legend;  it  should  be  a  cherished  archive,  pre- 
served with  solicitous  care,  for  its  relations  to  the  present  are 
growing  dimmer  and  dimmer. 

Among  the  many  changes  which  are  taking  place  at  the 
present  time,  there  are  two  important  facts  to  be  noted  ;  one  is 
the  growing  interdependency  of  different  sections  of  the  coun- 
try ;  and  the  other  is  its  counterpart,  an  increasing  tendency 
towards  uniformity  in  the  characteristics  of  our  population  re- 
garded as  a  whole. 

It  was  not  so  long  ago  that  it  was  possible  for  a  section  of 
this  country,  a  state,  for  example,  to  disregard  national  or  in- 
ternational conditions  and  maintain  an  isolated  position  in  which 
it  might  weave  out  its  own  fortunes  undisturbed  and  undistract- 
ed.  Its  material  prosperity  was  dependent  upon  local  rather 
than   upon  national  or  world  influences ;    and  in  this  self-suffi- 


23 

ciency,  it  could  develop  its  own  mental,  moral  and  industrial 
traits.  But  those  days  are  fleeting.  The  interrelations  of  the 
world  are  becoming  more  and  more  complex  ;  the  dependency 
and  interdependency  of  our  interests  are  more  and  more 
important  and  significant.  The  working  out  of  this  force 
on  a  large  scale  I  may  illustrate  by  certain  changes  which 
have  taken  place  over  long  periods  of  time  in  the  fields  of  com- 
merce. The  influence  of  the  railroad,  the  telegraph,  the  tele- 
phone and  the  steamship  in  opening  different  portions  of  the 
whole  country  has  often  been  dwelt  upon, and  has  become  a  trite 
subject  for  consideration.  But  the  chief  significance  of  these 
changes  is  not  merely  in  annihilating  space  and  lessening  time, 
but  in  changing  the  very  quality  of  commerce  and  the  relations 
of  mankind.  Commerce,  or  the  interchange  of  commodities, 
was  until  recently,  for  the  most  part  in  the  luxuries,  not  the 
necessaries  of  life.  If  the  interchange  were  interrupted,  the  mass 
of  the  people  was  but  little  disturbed.  Take  a  glance  at  Rome 
in  the  classic  age.  Who  but  the  nobles  or  wealthy  knights 
were  wont  to  purchase  the  calicoes  or  muslins  of  Malta,  the 
beautiful  green  marble  of  lyacedsemon,  the  byssinus  resembling 
cambric,  selling  for  its  weight  in  gold,  from  Elis  ;  the  marble 
from  Paros  ;  the  fine  earthenware  from  Samos  ;  the  wine  and 
vermilion  from  Galatia  and  Cappadocia  ;  the  columns  of  stone 
like  alabaster  from  Phrygia  ;  the  fine  wool,  black  as  jet,  from 
Laodicea  ;  the  precious  stones,  fine  resin,  sweet  oil  and  copper 
from  Cyprus  ;  the  cedar,  gum,  balsam  and  alabaster  from  Pales- 
tine ;  feathers  and  ivory  from  Africa  ;  and  the  lead,  iron,  copper^ 
silver  and  gold  from  Spain  ?  Nor  was  it  the  common  people 
who  ate  the  cheese,  geese,  and  salted  pork  from  Gaul  ;  and  the 
salted  tunni  from  Thrace  ;  or  the  honey  from  Attica.  None  but 
matrons  allied  to  rank  and  wealth  wore  the  robes  made  of  the 
plant  of  which  Virgil  sings.  ''Shall  I  sing,"  he  says,  *'of  the 
groves  of  Ethiopia,  hoary  with  soft  wool,  and  how  the  Seres 
comb  out  the  delicate  fleece  from  among  the  leaves?"  The  list 
is  sufficient.     The  commons  of  Rome  before    the   imperial    era 


24 

could  have  lived  and  died  and  been  none  the  worse  or  wiser 
if  never  a  ship  had  anchored  off  the  mouth  of  the  Tiber. 

Only  gradually  did  commerce  come  to  embrace  the  necessa- 
ries of  life.  During  the  middle  ages,  the  great  bulk  of  the  trade 
was  still  in  commodities  for  the  rich.  One  of  the  charming  es- 
sayists of  the  Spectator,  going  astray  from  his  customary  confi- 
dential and  felicitous  advice  to  female  correspondents,  into  the 
vulgar  realm  of  trade,  described  the  nature  of  the  commercial 
dependence  which  existed  in  his  day,  in  the  following  manner  ; 
— and  it  will  be  observed  how  few  of  the  commodities  referred 
to  were  purchased  by  the  people  at  large  :  ''The  fruits  of  Portu- 
gal are  corrected  by  the  products  of  Barbadoes  ;  and  the  infusion 
of  a  China  plant  is  sweetened  by  the  pith  of  an  Indian  cane. 
The  Philippine  Islands  give  a  flavor  to  the  European  bowls.  The 
single  dress  of  a  woman  of  quality  is  often  the  product  of  a  hun- 
dred climes.  The  muff  and  the  fan  come  together  from  the  dif- 
ferent ends  of  the  earth.  The  scarf  is  sent  from  the  torrid  zone 
and  the  tippet  from  beneath  the  pole.  The  brocaded  petticoat 
rises  out  of  the  mines  of  Peru,  and  the  diamond  necklace  out  of 
the  bowels  of  Hindoostan. " 

English  bills  of  lading  today  tell  altogether  a  different  tale. 
Wheat  constitutes  a  sixth  of  the  total  value  of  the  imports  of 
Great  Britain  ;  cotton  and  wool  in  her  clothing,  another  sixth  ; 
butter,  eggs,  sugar,  tea  and  coffee  about  an  eighth,  and  so  we 
might  continue  the  classification  to  show  that  the  great  mass  of 
the  commodities  imported  are  finally  consumed  by  the  middle 
and  lower  classes  of  society. 

The  commercial  statistics  of  other  nations  testify  to  the 
same  general  change.  Of  our  exports,  cotton  constitutes  more 
than  a  fourth  ;  wheat,  flour  and  corn  another  quarter  ;  bacon, 
ham,  lard,  cheese  and  animals,  an  eighth.  Commerce,  indeed, 
could  never  have  expanded  as  it  has,  if  it  had  not  seized  upon 
the  necessities  of  life  as  its  opportunities. 

Up  to  the  third  quarter  of  the  last  century  England  was 
practically  more  than  self-sufiicient  in  wheat  and  cattle.  About 
1770,  however,  England  had    to  seek   for  foreign  supplies.      In 


25 

fifty  years  this  amounted  to  a  large  quantity,  and  by  the 
middle  of  this  century  one  person  in  every  five  in  England 
lived  on  foreign  grain.  In  1879  Mr.  Caird  summed  up  the  situ- 
ation as  follows  :  **  We  now  receive  our  bread  in  equal  propor- 
tions from  our  own  fields  and  those  of  the  stranger  ;  this  country 
thus  derives  from  foreign  lands  not  only  half  its  bread  and 
nearly  one-quarter  of  its  dairy-  produce,  but  almost  the  entire 
commodities  that  may  be  further  required  by  an  increase  in  its 
population. " 

Last  year  England  did  not  raise  one-fourth  of  the  wheat 
which  she  required.  Looking  at  the  world  at  large,  there  is  at 
the  present  time,  roughly  speaking,  a  total  product  in  wheat  of 
more  than  two  thousand  million  of  bushels,  but  what  is  more  to 
the  point  for  our  consideration,  there  is  an  annual  transfer  from 
country  to  country  of  more  than  one-eighth  of  this  total  to  sat- 
isfy local  wants. 

Why  was  it  that  commerce  was  so  largely  restricted  to  lux- 
uries ?  There  were  reasons  for  it.  National  insecurity  and  fre- 
quent war  made  it  impossible  that  one  nation  should  depend  in 
any  essential  degree  upon  another  for  the  necessities  of  life. 
National  independence  in  former  times  was  largely  based  upon 
economic  independence.  A  principality  or  a  nation,  to  maintain 
its  sovereignty,  must  be  self-contained,  else  she  could  be 
starved  into  submission  and  thus  conquered.  A  country 
might,  indeed,  derive  from  other  lands  a  small  portion  of 
her  staple  food  products,  but  she  must  nevertheless  have  within 
her  own  borders  the  conditions  which  would  make  her  self  suffi- 
cient within  a  short  period.  This  argument  of  self-sufficiency 
has  been  a  favorite  one  of  statesmen.  It  was  so  in  the  early 
days  of  this  republic.  It  was  argued  that  in  no  respect  with  re- 
gard to  the  necessities  of  life  should  the  United  States  be  de- 
pendent upon  Europe. 

Now,  however,  with  the  rapid  transportation,  and  the  open- 
ing up  of  new  parts  of  the  world  for  supplies,  this  argument  has 
not  the  force  that  it  had  in  the  past.  The  world  is  too 
large    for     trade    to     be    stopped     by     war.        And     so     now 


26 

we  see  countries  which  are  far  from  self-sufficient.  They 
have  dared  to  swing  loose  trom  the  basis  of  domes- 
tic food  supplies  and  rely  upon  alien  sources  for  the  very 
necessities  of  life.  A  century  ago  it  was  computed  that  the 
total  trade  in  wheat  was  not  over  eleven  million  of  dollars  ;  now 
it  is  in  the  hundreds  of  millions.  Formerly  such  a  commercial 
situation  would  have  been  regarded  with  the  greatest  alarm. 
Now,  it  may  be  ''in  every  respect  advantageous." 

The  significance  of  the  illustration  upon  which  I  have 
dwelt  somewhat  at  length  is  patent  to  all.  It  is  general  and 
universal  in  its  application.  It  was  not  so  many  years  ago  that 
Vermont  was  self-sufficient  in  a  large  degree  in  her  food  pro- 
ducts, and  being  off  the  line  of  the  greater  transportation  routes, 
maintained  for  a  longer  period  her  economic  independence  than 
did  many  other  Eastern  states. 

We  are  not  able  to  present  statistics  or  accurate  data  which 
will  show  just  how  large  an  amount  of  food  products  is  im- 
ported into  this  little  State.  We  know,  however,  that  even  this 
agricultural  community  has  been  sucked  into  the  great  stream 
of  exchange,  swollen  by  the  flood  of  production  at  the  lowest 
possible  cost,  a  stream  coming  from  hundreds  or  thousands  of 
miles  away. 

I  may  illustrate  this  further  by  examples  of  inter-depen- 
dency in  other  parts  of  the  world.  The  prosperity  of  England 
is  particularly  dependent  upon  foreign  enterprise.  Capital  goes 
out  from  England  to  every  part  of  the  world  and  an  industrial 
disturbance  not  merely  in  an  English  colony,  but  in  an  indepen- 
dent nation,  is  likely  to  have  its  reflex  action  in  Great  Britain. 
For  example,  some  years  ago  there  was  a  rapid  development  in 
the  Argentine  Republic  ;  harbors  and  docks,  water  works, 
mining  projects,  railways,  electrical  enterprises,  were  equipped 
from  Great  Britain.  Numerous  contracts  were  engaged  in.  A 
crisis  took  place  in  Argentine  affairs  owing  to  an  over-expan- 
sion of  credit  and  insecure  finances.  These  enterprises  came  to 
-an  end  and  the  engineering  trades  of  Great  Britain  were  pros- 
trated.    British  industry  was  seriously  influenced   by  the    bank- 


27 

ing  crisis  in  Australia  in  1893,  which  compelled  the  colonies  to 
restrict  their  purchases.  The  currency  crisis  of  this  country 
four  years  ago  reduced  our  purchases  of  British  productions. 
The  closing  of  the  Indian  mints  brought  about  a  decrease  in  the 
exports  of  British  and  Irish  produce.  England  has  thus  been  at 
the  mercy  of  storms  generated  in  other  climes. 

Competition  is  quick  to  seize  the  smallest  possible  margin  of 
profit.  This  point  of  advantage  may  be  in  a  distant  land,  and 
we,  the  consumers,  without  a  question  transfer  our  allegiance 
from  our  neighbor  who  grew  our  wheat  and  provided  our  beef 
and  mutton,  to  some  stranger  who  lives  no  one  knows  where,  if 
we  can  thereby  save  a  fraction  of  a  cent. 

And  this  world-wide  competition  will  increase  as  rapidly  in 
the  future  as  in  the  past.  We  are  coming  more  and  more  to  a 
world -basis  of  industry  ;  and  this  means  an  upheaval,  a  wrench- 
ing, and  in  many  places,  desolation,  as  for  example,  illustrated 
in  a  city  in  Southern  Kansas,  a  town  having  three  lines  of  rail- 
ways connecting  it  with  the  outside  world,  where  the  population 
has  declined  from  2,021  in  1894  ^o  1,074  i^  1896,  and  the  prop- 
erty valuation  from  $273,000  to  $171,000. 

There  is  an  agricultural  problem,  and  its  explanation  in  a 
large  measure  lies  in  the  creation  of  a  world  market.  The 
struggle  for  the  maintenance  of  our  agricultural  population  will 
be  severe  and  painful.  It  can  be  lessened  by  education  which 
will  enable  every  agricultural  producer  to  seize  the  slightest 
opportunity  for  self-help  and  enable  him  to  adapt  himself  to 
new  conditions. 

But  not  only  in  our  production  but  in  our  savings  of  wealth 
also  do  we  find  this  interdependency  of  interests  illustrated. 
The  aggregate  resources  of  all  the  savings  institutions  and 
trust  companies  in  Vermont  on  June  30,  1896,  was,  if  I  read  the 
report  of  the  Inspector  of  Finance  aright,  $34,991,346.  Where 
are  these  savings  of  Vermont  invested  ?  Nearly  one- 
third,  or  $11,085,427  are  invested  in  loans  on  mortgages  or 
real  estate  outside  of  this  State,  and  for  the  most  part  in  the 
West.     The  prosperity  of  this  State  as  far  as  these  accumulated 


28 

savings  have  gone,  depends  upon  other  portions  of  the  country. 
This  is  well  known  to  all,  and  hardly  needs  further  illustration. 
A  shock,  a  crisis,  or  a  business  depression  may  not  make  itself 
felt  in  Vermont  so  acutely  or  so  promptly,  but  the  results  are 
sure  to  be  felt ;  and  the  happiness  of  many  a  family  in  this  com- 
monwealth has  been  disturbed  by  the  working  out  of  forces  far 
beyond  its  immediate  control. 

The  values  of  invested  securities  are  disturbed  by  the  fluctu- 
ations of  war  between  Turkey  and  Greece — to  us  apparently, 
as  far  as  material  forces  go,  an  insignificant  struggle,  and  yet 
the  value  of  your  investment  in  an  American  railroad  bond  or 
stock,  or  municipal  or  state  security,  is  lessened  by  a  Greek 
victory  and  increased  by  that  of  Turkey.  Why?  So  knit  are 
the  financial  interests  of  the  world  that  the  prospect  of  new  in- 
vestment securities,  issued  by  a  national  government,  would 
bring  into  the  market  a  new  supply,  which,  under  the  law  of 
supply  and  demand,  would  decrease  the  value  of  the  amount 
already  open  for  investment.  From  the  standpoint  of  European 
politics  it  is  impolitic  to  let  Greece  go  far  in  the  path  of  success 
to  the  injury  of  Turkey.  This  would  start  a  general  revolt 
which  would  involve  extensive  interests.  The  powers  would 
be  obliged  to  interfere  ;  this  would  require  the  borrowing  of 
money  or  the  issuing  of  loans  ;  and  a  new  supply  would  lessen 
the  value  of  all  investment  securities  in  the  market. 

There  is  another  force  which  brings  into  prominence  the 
significance  of  the  interdependency  of  the  different  sections  of 
our  country  in  different  parts  of  the  world, — migration  and  im- 
migration. I  shall  not  dwell  upon  the  causes  of  foreign  immi- 
gration in  the  past  twent}'  years  ;  or  show  how  it  differed  in 
kind  from  that  of  earlier  years  ;  but  if  migration  of  the  present 
quality  is  to  continue,  for  our  own  self-protection  we  shall  be 
more  and  more  justified  in  showing  a  profound  interest  in  the 
uplifting  of  the  lower  classes  of  European  nations. 

But  the  growth  of  this  interpendency  within  our  own 
country  is  illustrated  in  the  facts  of  interstate  migration.  For 
example,  in  1890  the    total   number   of  persons   living   in   the 


United  States,  born  in; Vermont,  was  422,359.  Of  these  295,- 
625  lived  in  Vermont.  There  are  172,769,  or  nearly  41  per 
cent,  at  the  present  time  to  be  found  living  in  other  states  and 
territories  of  our  own  national  union.  They  have  gone  out 
from  this  environment  to  win  their  way  to  success  or  failure  in 
another  environment.  Of  these,  13,439  have  settled  in  Kan- 
sas and  westward;  11,354  have  settled  in  Illinois;  9,452  in 
Michigan;  9,397  in  Wisconsin;  9,301  in  Iowa;  and  7,683  in 
Minnesota.  Nearly  a  quarter  of  this  number  have  settled  in  the 
large  cities  of  the  United  States.  For  example,  Boston  has 
3,998,  Chicago,  3,285,  the  city  of  I^owell  in  Massachusetts 
2,057,  Worcester,  1971,  New  York,  1,808,  Minneapolis,  1,722 
and  so  on. 

Of  88  students  at  the  University  of  Vermont  in  the  fair  of 
1889,  whose  present  residence  is  known  to  the  authorities 
of  our  college,  all  but  8  came  from  Vermont:  Of  these  88,  how- 
ever, but  one-  fourth,  or  22,  settled  in  Vermont,  and  of  these 
22,  10  are  in  Burlington.  Of  the  88,  15  settled  in  New  York 
city.  Vermont  University  is  not  merely  a  college  for  Vermont. 
Her  sons  and  daughters  go  elsewhere. 

We  see  then  that  a  population  like  that  of  Vermont  is  beset 
by  two  powerful  forces  which  are  at  work  throughout  the  world 
— the  tendency  toward  a  world-condition  of  industrial  produc- 
tion and  commerce  ;  and  secondly,  the  instability  of  the  popu- 
lation,— a  tendency  to  move  to  manufacturing  and  commercial 
centers  where  the  margin  of  disadvantage  is  least,  or  the  mar- 
gin of  advantage  in  the  world's  competition  is  greatest.  This 
analysis  of  what  I  conceive  to  be  the  condition  not  only  of  Ver- 
mont, but  of  many  other  agricultural  sections  of  our  country  has 
not  appeared,  I  trust,  pedantic  or  over-labored.  The  reason- 
ing, I  believe,  is  close  to  the  facts  even  if  the  illustra- 
tions be  not  the  most  happy.  He  who  works  best  for  the  future 
of  Vermont  must  take  these  forces  into  account  and  ask  himself 
how  best  shall  this  and  the  next  generation  be  fitted  for  these 
changing  conditions.  I  am  not  here  to  express  evil  foreboding. 
If  Vermont  could  create  what  she  has  in  the  past,  with  little   or 


30 

no  advantage  in  her  favor,  with  no  turn  of  the  wheel  of  fortune 
to  pour  wealth  suddenly  into  her  lap,  with  no  prestige  of  the 
great  millionaire — if  Vermont  has  been  able  to  do  what  she  has, 
with  a  quiet,  patient  and  intelligent  shaping  of  her  opportuni- 
ties, there  is  no  reason  to  fear  for  the  future  ;  and  yet  to  me 
these  reflections  upon  the  future  of  the  land  of  my  birth  and  the 
fortunes  that  it  must  meet,  have  for  a  long  time  been  of  interest; 
and  I  therefore  have  endeavored  in  these  few  brief  moments  to' 
present  them. 

But  may  I  now  call  your  attention  to  a  few  other  consider- 
ations connected  with  this  subject  of  our  interpendency.  It  is  a 
remarkable  fact  that  while  economic  forces  have  with  irresist- 
ible power  developed  this  condition,  the  intellect  of  man  as  ex- 
pressed in  political  laws  and  enactments  is  blind  to  its  existence 
or  thinks  it  can  defeat  its  ends.  lyCgislative  enactment  may 
possibly  defeat  the  immediate  purposes  of  our  great  world  force, 
Cor  human  will  is  capable  of  any  blunder  whereby  great  suffer- 
ing may  be  brought  to  mankind.  Interpendency  is  becoming 
the  key-note  of  the  world's  situation,  and  yet  for  a  moment  con- 
sider how  little  this  is  recognized  in  the  three  most  important 
<3uestions  which  are  before  the  American  people  at  the  present 
time.  I  refer  to  the  tariff  question  ;  second,  to  the  currency 
question  ;  and  third,  to  the  question  of  our  political  international 
relations. 

A  tariff  schedule  is  an  instrument  designed  to  control  within 
given  limits  international  economic  relations.  It  is  a  res- 
olution to  lessen  interdependency  which  might  be  created  under 
free  conditions.  In  many  stages  of  a  nation's  development  this 
is  desirable.  But  emphatic  protest  should  be  raised  against  the 
frequent  interference  and  disturbance  of  international  relations. 

The  changes  brought  about  by  a  tariff  are  hardly  appre- 
ciated, and  particularly  remiss  are  we  to  a  consideration  of  the 
promptness  with  which  they  come.  Let  me  illustrate  it  by  one 
or  two  examples.  First,  the  change  in  the  tin  plate  industry  of 
South  Wales  caused  by  the  McKinley  tariff.  The  shipment  to 
the  United  States  of  tin  plates  formed  about  70  per  cent,  of  the 


31 

whole  exports  of  tin  plate  from  that  section,  and  about  one-half 
of  its  production,  in  the  period  just  before  the  passage  of 
the  McKinley  tariff.  By  the  adoption  of  that  tariff  thou- 
sands of  operatives  were  thrown  out  of  employment  in  that 
section  of  England,  many  of  whom  helped  to  aggravate  the 
problem  of  the  unemployed  in  the  great  cities  of  England,  and 
others  were  led  to  transfer  themselves  and  their  families  to 
the  seats  of  the  industry  in  this  country. 

Another  striking  example  of  this  influence  of  tariff  upon 
the  industrial  conditions  of  one  locality  was  found  in  the  recent 
experience  of  Bradford,  England,  one  of  the  greatest  centers  of 
woolen  manufacture,  particularly  worsteds.  The  United  States 
has  constituted  about  one  third  of  her  market,  and  the  active 
employment  of  her  machinery,  it  is  said,  depends  upon  a  large 
volume  of  American  orders.  **  It  is  generally  agreed,"  says  a 
competent  author,  ''that  on  the  passage  of  the  McKinley  tariff 
of  1890,  and  through  the  business  depression  which  preceded  its 
repeal,  Bradford  was  the  dullest  and  gloomiest  town  in  England." 
The  following  are  the  fluctuations  in  the  exports  of  Bradford  to 
the  United  States  in  millions  of  dollars  :  1890,  20  millions  (note, 
the  McKinley  tariff  comes  into  operation)  in  1891,  11. 6  millions  ; 
in  1894,  8.2  millions.  And  the  tariff  of  1894  changed  conditions, 
and  the  figures  once  more  expand. 

It  will  be  impossible  to  take  the  tariff  question  entirely  out 
of  politics.  Nations  will  be  less  disposed  to  plunge  into  military 
and  naval  struggle,  so  great  is  the  expense  of  modern  warfare,  yet 
international  competition,  national  assertiveness  and  race  rancor 
will  find  their  outlet  in  a  commercial  attack  through  a  tariff. 
Commercial  warfare  is  likely  to  rule  in  the  future.  But  we  should 
recognize  the  disaster  this  will  bring.  Competition  aided  by 
the  mechanical  inventions  of  the  age  will  penetrate  every  gap  or 
opening  which  the  ingenuity  of  the  legislator  at  the  time  has 
been  unable  to  close.  It  will,  however,  be  impossible  to  pre 
vent  the  establishment  here  or  there  in  the  industrial  field  of 
close  commercial  ties,  and  yet  we  appear  eager  to  cut  apart 
without  a  moment's  warning  these  connecting  links. 


32 

A  large  part  of  this  people  believes  that  we  can  have  a 
national  currency  which  has  no  relation  to  the  monetary  stand- 
ards which  have  been  established  by  the  rest  of  the  world  ;  we 
should  be  independent  in  our  unit.  The  delicate  adjustments  of 
trade,  the  money  market,  finances,  are  lost  sight  of.  It  is  not 
seen  that  if  we  are  to  have  a  world  commerce,  we  needs  must 
have  a  common  par  of  exchange  in  order  that  this  world-com- 
merce may  be  carried  on  with  the  least  possible  friction.  And 
a  gold  standard,  or  a  silver  standard,  if  it  be  not  a  universal  world 
standard,  is  in  so  far  defective.  What  is  needed  is  a  common 
standard,  not  merely  an  American  standard,  not  merely 
the  standard  which  England  has,  but  a  standard  which  the  world 
may  have. 

And  so  again  in  our  international  relations,  we  have  seized 
upon  a  doctrine  justifiable  to  a  certain  degree  from  its  historic  as- 
sociations, which  would  lead  us  to  associate  ourselves  with  the 
political  fortunes  of  countries  with  which  we  have  little  of  this  social 
interdependence,  whether  it  be  in  material  goods,  or  in  intellectual 
or  spiritual  aspirations.  With  what  countries  should  we  seek 
to  ally  ourselves  and  establish  comity  ?  a  choice  which  would 
enable  us  to  work  together  for  common  welfare  ?  We  have  made 
the  Atlantic  ocean  a  barrier,  and  considered  the  great  mountain 
range  which  extends  through  Mexico,  Central  America,  and  along 
the  spine  of  South  America,  a  bridge,  and  endeavored  to  mark 
that  out  as  the  line  along  which  our  political  interdependency 
should  be  determined,  although  other  forces  have  drawn  us  into 
dependencies  which  defy  political  doctrine.  The  ocean  should 
not  be  a  barrier,  but  a  bridge,  and  by  all  the  experience 
in  the  past  half  century,  we  should  be  closer  drawn  to  nations  to 
the  East  of  us  than  to  nations  to  the  South  of  us.  We  may  express 
a  sympathy  and  tender  a  helping  hand  when  occasion  ofi'ers,  but 
we  should  not  permit  ourselves  to  magnify  relations  which  are  of 
less  importance,  at  the  expense  of  interdependency  of  ties  which 
can  be  made  not  only  of  importance  to  us  as  a  nation,  but  of  rnost 
tremendous  significance  to  the  world  as  a  civilizing  factor. 


33 

I  am  not  referring  here  to  sentimental  considerations  which 
might  justify  our  affection  for  mother,  England,  or  a  sympathy 
with  Greece,  or  pity  toward  Western  Asia.  I  rely  upon  the  argu- 
ment of  economic  advantage.  Our  manufacturers,  as  well  as  our 
consumers,  have  more  interest  in  stable  trade  relations  over  the 
sea  than  elsewhere. 

No  State  then,  no  individual,  can  escape  the  results  of  this 
overmastering  force  toward  interdependency.  Our  Western  lake 
and  Eastern  river  and  mountain  barriers  cannot  shut  out  this  in- 
vading force.  It  is  our  part,  then,  to  prepare  for  as  easy  an  ad- 
justment as  possible. 

It  is  not  without  significance  that  our  University  is  set  upon 
a  hill.  The  vision  has  a  wide  sweep  to  a  distant  horizon  and 
from  this  summit  we  can  look  forth  upon  the  world,  beat- 
ing with  a  quicker  pulse,  but  behind  is  the  same  throbbing  en- 
gine that  drives  us  all  on  and  holds  us  to  a  common  task. 

The  educational  system  of  this  commonwealth  must  there- 
fore concern  itself  not  only  with  the  preparation  of  its  youth  for 
absorption  into  its  own  community  which  will  have  to  deal  with 
new  forces,  but  it  also  must  prepare  its  offspring  for  other  en- 
vironments, for  other  temptations  and  struggles.  The  student 
may  not  know  by  actual  contact  the  full  significance  of  modern 
immigration  of  a  low  and  degraded  standard,  or  of  the  slums  of 
the  city,  or  of  the  complications  of  factory  life  or  sweat  shop,  or 
of  the  pressure  of  great  corporations  illustrated  in  unrighteous 
legislation,  or  of  the  frequent  failure  of  the  individual  who  can- 
not withstand  the  pressure  of  corporate  competition.  The  stu- 
dent born  and  bred  in  Vermont  may  not  know  the  prejudiced 
feeling  or  strenuous  efforts  of  organized  labor  advocates ;  he  may 
not  hear  the  heated  and  bitter  oratory  of  the  agitator  who  has 
committed  himself  to  an  economic  scheme  rather  than  to  a 
faith  in  the  political  institutions  of  our  country.  Of  all  this  he 
may  be  ignorant,  but  of  these  and  similar  conditions  he  cannot 
remain  ignorant  long.  They  are  part  of  his  problem  whether 
he  go  to   the    larger  centers  of  population  or  remain  at  home. 


34 

He  cannot  escape  their  pressure.     The  forces  of  life  are   spin- 
ning their  web  in  every  direction,  and  he  is  in  the  meshes. 

Davis  Rich  Dewky,  1879 

Professor  in  the  Mass.  Institute  of  Technology,  Boston 


LATIN   ODE 

Written— not  to  the  Metre— but  to  the  Tune,  of  "Integer  vitae. 

Iterum,  fratres,  rediit  sollennis    . 
Auctoris  nostri  dies  celebrandus 
Et  in  memoriam  et  in  spem  perennem 
Rerum  maiorum. 

Grates  agamus  rebus  pro  secundis 
Adhuc  expertis,  nee  ullo  cessemus 
Die  conniti  Deumque  precari 

Opem  ut  concedat. 

Clarius  semper  altiusque  micet 
Lumen  accensum  centum  abhinc  annos 
Utque  a  pharo  radios  diflfundat 

Latins  laetos. 

Donee  a  fluvio  usque  ad  lacum  amoenum 
Terra  Viridium  dulcis  Clivorum 
Plena  sit  luce  honore  veritate, — 

Domus  virtutum. 

Semper  ut  vivat  floreatque  Mater 
Nostra  Benigna,  mentes  atque  mores 
Excolens  civitatis  ad  honorem, 

Deum  rogemus. 


lU    tiOOl 


38.3362 


S-C 

.7 


UNIVERSITV  OF  CAUFORNIA  UBRARY 


